Spatium Nostrum
by megustachimichangas
Summary: 902 AS - the Corsairs want to fulfill their prophecy of being recognized as the true House of Hispania. With the colonies on the brink of war they see an oportunity to do so.
1. Chapter 1 - The Libertonian Expansion

The Libertonian expansion

"Señor! We have received news from the _Outcast_ situation in the _Cortez_ system…" said optio1 Muñoz

"Report it to me, what is it?" replied centurion Allende

Muñoz sat down in front of the centurion and interlocked its fingers on the table. Allende looked at him while noticing a smile on the face of his subordinate and patiently waited for the upcoming good news.

"As you have already noticed I bring some good news for us…" Muñoz said, continuing " _Liberty_ finalized colonization of planet _Curacao_ and claimed the _Cortez_ system as _Liberty_ territory, and now that the _Rogues_ and the _Hackers_ were expelled the _Outcasts_ lost all of their influence in there… So they will probably move some of their pilots to invade the system and maybe even build a base there, so that may be our chance to invade the _Tau_ region with might!"

Allende smiled but kept quiet, he just limited to listening the information.

In truth few _Liberty Rogues_ dare to enter the _Cortez_ after _Liberty_ 's arrival, _Orbital Spa & Cruise_ left _Curacao_ and placed luxury liner _Jamaica_ planetside in order for _libertonian_ authorities safely colonize the planet. The battleship _LNS Yukon_ traveled from _California_ to _Cortez_ so that the _Liberty Navy_ could patrol the system in an effective way, the _bretonian_ Queen ordered the withdrawal of the _Bretonia Armed Forces_ relinquishing control of half of the system. _Bretonia_ could not afford a war of nerves with _Liberty_ at that point, and the presence of the _Yukon_ , a battleship as outdated as one could be, was still more than a valid reason for not raising tensions with the _libertonians_.

The construction of the _Cardomethadone Facility_ in the _Cortez_ system made it a target for _Outcasts_ because _Cryer Pharmaceuticals'_ cardomethadone was about to be deployed into the market to replace and treat cardamine addiction. That's why the _Liberty Navy_ commanded this process with the upmost importance and rigor, the _Liberty Rogues_ and the _Lane Hackers_ are known allies of the _Outcasts_ and are also known to harbor them in their bases while preparing raids so obviously their expulsion of the system and chartering of all _jump holes_ was priority number one.

"What about the _Magellan_ system?" asked centurion Allende

"In the _Magellan_ things are different… The _Navy_ is in trouble with the _IMG_ , and _Bretonia Armed Forces_ still patrol half of the system…" replied Muñoz

"What about the _Outcasts_ presence?"

"I couldn't find out, that _Junker_ asshole wouldn't tell me… But he confirmed that the _Hackers_ still operate in the area and that _Mactan Base_ is still there…"

The _Magellan_ system is roughly controlled by the _Independent Miners Guild_ ( _IMG_ ) based on _Freeport 4_ between two ice clouds: the _Wendell Cloud_ and an outcropping of _The Barrier_. When _Liberty_ started to colonize _Curacao_ and allowed _Cryer_ to build the _Cardomethadone Facility_ , they started to warn the _IMG_ that _Liberty_ wanted the _Magellan_ system and that those miners would have one of three choices: leave the system, keep working for the _IMG_ but pay a tax to _Liberty_ and obey _libertonian_ law or join a _Liberty_ corporation. The _IMG_ miners based in _Freeport 4_ obviously refused and dared to challenge _Liberty_ , remembering what the _GMG_ did to _Rheinland_ 300 years ago.

What happened next was astonishing because _Liberty_ did what _Rheinland_ did with the _GMG_ , use the military. Since the _LNS_ Yukon was on duty in the _Cortez_ the _Navy_ had no battleships available so three cruisers left the _Norfolk Shipyard_ : the _LNC Washington_ , the _LNC Utah II_ and the _LNC Anchorage_ , and headed to the _Magellan_ expecting an easy run. What they didn't know was that the _IMG_ had prepared a blockade near the _jump gate_ to the _California_ system, the cruisers managed to break through the blockade fairly easily and headed through the _Wendell Cloud_ to _Freeport 4_ when they were ambushed by several _IMG_ fighter wings helped by _Lane Hackers'_ fighters. The result was the utter destruction of _LNC Utah II_ , the _LNC Washington_ was badly damaged and the _LNC Anchorage_ had to retreat to the _jump gate_ where it stayed to protect it. Commerce from _Liberty_ in that system came to a standstill, which only damaged _Bretonia_ 's already delicate economy, and tensions rose between the _Navy_ and the _IMG_ with both factions fighting each other. Mining in the _Wendell Cloud_ was suspended and only fighters wandered in it.

 _Liberty_ deployed plan B instead. Using the old _Magellan jump gate_ near the abandoned _Research Station Ithaca_ deep inside _The Badlands_ in the _New York_ system they started to send fighter wings to the _Magellan_ 's outcropping of _The Barrier_ , on the _bretonian_ side of the system. What the _Liberty Navy_ sent there were the all new state of the art _Sherman_ fighters, which were more powerful versions of the _Firebird_ fighters that were steadily replacing the old aging _Defender_. Besides the new fighters, the _Navy_ sent the repaired _LNC Washington_ and the new cruiser _LNC Little Italy_ , the forces concentrated behind the old _jump gate_ and prepared for an all-out assault on the _Hacker_ 's _Mactan Base_ which hid inside the outcropping. An unsuspicious _Bretonia Armed Forces_ patrol detected the _Liberty_ ships and hailed them asking for ID and intentions, the _Navy_ respected the traffic laws and complied giving the info the _bretonians_ wanted. What they didn't expect was that the _Lane Hackers_ were listening to them and armed themselves against the attack; they also hailed the _IMG_ patrols in the area and devised a plan of counter-attack.

The plan was simple: a wing of _IMG_ fighters carrying torpedoes would attack the _California jump gate_ and destroy the cruiser guarding it, the _LNC Anchorage_. This would be enough for the _Navy_ to anticipate its attack on _Mactan_ , its forces would run into a torpedo rain and a counter-attack from the _Hackers_ , the final blow would be struck by four wings of _IMG_ fighters that would attack the _Navy_ forces from behind crushing them in the middle.

"And? I assume that the _Hackers_ plan worked…" the centurion asked

"Unfortunately for us, yes señor… The _Liberty Navy_ failed to conquer the system and the _IMG_ still wanders there allowing the _Hackers_ to wander freely, although there is no evidence of any _Outcast_ activity." answered optio Muñoz, continuing "What happened, according to that _Junker_ , was that the _Anchorage_ was destroyed without even noticing the enemy ships, the _Navy_ fleet was defeated and, when trying to escape back through the _jump gate_ it exploded. The _IMG_ had her rigged with explosives or something so the only _libertonian_ ship that made it back to _New York_ was the _LNC Little Italy_ …"

 _Liberty_ was, at this point, a nation in decline. Despite several explorations the _libertonian_ explorers failed to discover uncharted _jump holes_ that would lead to systems waiting to be discovered and colonized. Other than _California's_ ice fields, Planet Pittsburgh was the only raw material source inside _Liberty_ space and its boron mines were almost mined out by _Deep Space Engineering_. Since _Galileo_ and _Kepler_ systems have no valuable raw materials _Liberty_ was not interested in them; _Hudson_ and _Bering_ were already being explored by _Rheinland_ corporations in an effort to try and lift the economy back on its feet and an invasion by _Liberty_ would result in a tension rise with _Rheinland_. _Magellan_ and _Cortez_ were the obvious choices for expansion, but the complete failure in the _Magellan_ eclipsed the apparent success in the _Cortez_ and, furthermore, proved that _Liberty_ wasn't invincible. The free trade driven economy was stalled and _libertonian_ society was being rot from the inside, small companies were being bought by the big ones, like _Ageira_ and _DSE_ , and unemployment was on the rise again. _Xenos_ were rapidly increasing in numbers and their attacks became more and more frequent, quickly the _Xenos_ turned into political driven criminals, bound to overthrow the _Liberty_ government and replace it with a more dictatorial one with direct action on the economy, instead of a mere quasi-anarchist group. They infiltrated every _Liberty_ system, except the restricted and well defended _Alaska_ , pounding the _Liberty Rogues_ to near extinction inside _Liberty_ space, pushing them to the Independent systems, and started to construct their own ships: the _Black Widow_ and the _Red Widow_ fighters.

In that moment the door opens and a man of _kusarian_ appearance enters.

"Ah, mr. Kamata! Please, get in…" said the centurion.

1 Second in command to the centurion


	2. Chapter 2 - The Kusarian Stalemate

The Kusarian Stalemate

"What brings you to the _Corsairs_ home?" the centurion continued

"As you know, the _Hogosha_ have been your business partners for some centuries now… We even see ourselves as your allies, which is nice…" Kamata said, making a small pause before continuing "The problem is that other criminal factions are starting to see us as your allies too and we are starting to have some problems inside _Kusari_ space…"

The centurion asked Kamata to sit down and offered him a glass of Cretan wine, Muñoz was preparing to leave the room when Allende ordered him to sit down too and have a glass of wine with them. Centurion Allende remained standing, in front of the two men scratching his beard.

"Are the fighter blueprints we gave you being built?" asked centurion Allende

"Yes centurion, they are indeed. And are performing well too! But the enemies keep increasing and our numbers seem to be unchanged, the _Hogosha_ is a powerful political faction but a small one… Besides, the _Blood Dragons_ are very well trained and beat us even with their outdated _Dragon_ fighters." replied Kamata.

The _Blood Dragons_ were the _Hogosha_ 's new enemy because the first were notorious allies of the _Outcasts_ , and the _Hogosha_ sided with the _Corsairs_. _Blood Dragon_ pilots are among the best in _Sirius_ , descending from a long line of elite pilots tracing back to the fourth century A.S. Their well-known lack of money and numbers made them use the outdated _Dragon_ fighter since, at least, the year 800 A.S., which by that time was also used by the _Kusari Naval Forces_. The _Naval Forces_ decommissioned the _Dragon_ fighters in 843 and by 846 A.S. all the fighter wings were flying the _Gojira_ fighter, the old _KNF_ _Dragons_ were sold as scrap, mostly to _Junkers_ from _Liberty_ , and then resold to _Blood Dragons_ to increase their fleets and to be used as spared parts. Now the _KNF_ are starting to replace the _Gojira_ for the _Enenra_ fighter, and the economic stagnation obligated the government to reuse the _Gojira_ instead of developing a new fighter for the _Kusari Police_. _Police_ 's _Obake_ light fighters, that replaced the _Drake_ light fighters in 819, are being slowly replaced by the _KNF_ 's decommissioned and repaired _Gojira_ 's.

The _Crow_ region where _Kusari_ was located was indeed rich in raw materials, especially water, oxygen and other mineable gases. _Kusarian_ government abolished the feudal system in 850 and the Shogun absorbed all the power to himself; relations between the two major companies, _Samura_ and _Kishiro_ , were becoming more tense since the end of the Nomad War because _Kishiro_ drew closer to the _GMG_ signing a deal of partnership. The _GMG_ would buy ships and technology from _Kishiro_ and would give in return raw materials sold with a large friendly discount. The final armistice between the _GMG_ and _Rheinlander_ corporations allowed them to enter _Rheinland_ space and soon companies such as _ALG Waste Disposal_ , _Daumman_ and _Kruger_ were buying _Kishiro_ 's ships and flying it through the colonies, where the _Tennin_ freighter was a huge success.

This carved a huge separation between _Kusari_ and the _Liberty_ / _Bretonia_ axis, bringing them closer to _Rheinland_. _Kishiro_ , that was a public company since 806 A.S., was privatized again in 900 when was bought by Hiro Matsumoto, CEO of the _GMG_ , and its business volume increased while the responsibilities with the state were abruptly reduced. _Samura_ saw itself losing market and, fearing of losing the race for future military ship construction, injected capital in the state's coffers in a policy of lost fund. This meant that the Shogun would have millions to develop the nation without worrying about paying it back, the money was never spent because the Shogun died in the end of 901 without leaving any legitimate children. Three options of succession appeared: Hiro Matsumoto, the Shogun's nephew and owner of both _Kishiro_ and _GMG_ ; Takeshi Abe, the Shogun's illegitimate son and boss of the _Hogosha_ ; and Junya Samura, owner of _Samura Industries_ and, technically, owner of the money in the state's coffers.

"So… What are you asking of us mr. Kamata?" centurion Allende asked

" _Kishiro_ and _Samura_ have heavy arguments… We don't…" Kamata replied

"We don't have money to lend you mr. Kamata, how do you want us to help you?"

"That is what we would like to discuss with the Caesar1… A plan to put us ahead in the race for the succession"

"Optio, what do you think of this?"

Muñoz drank a bit of wine and interlocked its fingers.

"Señor Kamata, the _Hogosha_ understands that our help has a price, right?" Muñoz said

"It depends on the price…" replied Kamata, surprised "Don't forget that we are the ones who allow you to enrich with _kusarian_ money!"

"And I think you and the _Hogosha_ are in no position of threatening us! Without us you would be eaten alive by the _Blood Dragons_ and the _Outcasts_ , you would disappear before you could think about ruling over _Kusari_!" replied Muñoz "But I'm sure you will do your part and the Caesar will help you out…"

Centurion Allende warned Legate Trujillo that Kamata had an appointment with the Caesar and quickly a Tribune entered the room, Carlos Rubio, to take the _kusarian_ to the Caesar's presence. There were other centurions in the room and the only reason that Muñoz was allowed in the middle was that the young optio was about to be promoted to full centurion by Fernando Trujillo, the _Omegas_ Second Legion's Legate, on the other hand Allende was the most experienced centurion and, therefore, hierarchically superior to the others.

"That was a good speech kid, that _kusarian_ left this place with his tail between his legs…" Allende said to Muñoz

"Gracias señor…" Muñoz replied, hearing a choir of approval from the other centurions

1 Leader of the Corsairs. Corsairs borrow some of the social and military organization of the ancient Roman Legions. There was the Caesar, usually appointed by the Senate. The military had the General, Legate, Tribune, Centurion, Optio and soldiers


End file.
